Story+1988-04-23+Los+Angeles,+CA

“Ready to ride? (crowd cheers)…”
 * 23.04.88 Los Angeles, CA, intro to “Tunnel of Love”**

“Now, where’s all that sunshine you’re supposed to have out here? (crowd cheers) this is spring, right? Los Angeles, right? (crowd cheers) yesterday, it was nice yesterday, you know…you get weather like, like you had here yesterday, you get that back east, everybody goes crazy (crowd cheers) everybody’s going crazy out here all the time, I can tell (crowd cheers) you get that spring weather, you know the girls leave all their winter clothes home (crowd cheers) you see ‘em out in the street walking them little dogs (chuckles) people pulling down the tops of their convertibles (crowd cheers) when I get weather like that, I like to, I like to go out and take a walk in the park a little bit, you know…see if any, uh, see if any of my old friends are still hanging around out there… (crowd cheers) hey, hey, man, hey!...yeah (snickers) how you doing? alright (crowd cheers) it’s good to see you (snickers)… what’ve you been up to?...been busy, man, I never see you…I know (chuckles)…you got, oh, you got that going down…oh, let me check ‘em out…we got photographic evidence of the little Big Man (crowd cheers) the baby pictures…(chuckles)…oh, he looks good, he’s got a little saxophone (crowd cheers) he’s got little shades (crowd cheers)(chuckles) how old is he? three years old now, three years… he’s almost as big as me, drives his own car, has his own apartment (chuckles) yeah, he looks good…got a lot of little babies running around now…I was telling the folks last night that in about fifteen years there’s gonna be E Street Band Volume Two out there (crowd cheers) that’s nice…man, remember we used to sit on this bench in 1975? (crowd cheers) oh yeah…you see, there was, there was this big office building down on the corner and like about 4.30 the girls’d all get out of work and they’d all walk down this street, you know…and me and Clarence used to come down here and… we’d have some baloney-and-cheese sandwiches and a couple of bottles of beer in a little bag and (crowd cheers) and we’d sit here and we used to play cards, you know, till they got out of work… they used to get out right about this time…here they come, here they come, they still come…the one in, uh…the one in the red dress, yeah, yeah…(crowd cheers)…(snickers) I won’t embarrass you (chuckles) you know…but I remember I was with you, I was with you the night that you met your wife…you know…we were overseas and Clarence comes in and knocks on my hotel room door, you see, because I was his Dr. Ruth, you know (chuckles) (crowd cheers) and he’d come and he’d say “Bruce, I met this girl, I met this girl, she’s fantastic, she’s incredible, man, I’m in, I’m in love”…but that wasn’t unusual because Clarence was always falling in love back then (chuckles) that’s alright, that’s, that’s good, that’s good (chuckles) and then he said “No, no, this is different, you know, you know, this is different, this is the girl that I’m gonna marry”…now, that wasn’t unusual ‘cause Clarence was always meeting the girl that he was gonna marry (chuckles) and then, then you got married, you know, that was unusual (chuckles) that’s nice …remember how you felt like the first time, like, she’d come walking into the room, she’s looking so good…you know, when you gotta act like a whole lot nicer than you really are, you know…can’t show your real self yet, try to be real romantic and…cool, you know …back in New Jersey (crowd cheers) it feels kind of…it feels kind of like this…hey, Ritchie, you ready?...straight out of New Jersey, ladies and gentlemen, come on (the horn players start harmonizing)…yeah, that’s what it’s like…and then you court her, you know, you court her, take her out, you do whatever she wants, you know, you go to the movies that she wants to see…you know and then – what time is it?...oh man, I gotta be getting home…I know, we used to stay up till four am, remember?...I go to bed, uh, I go to bed at 11.30 now…yeah, I do, but then I get to watch like “The Honeymooners” for a half-hour and then out go the lights, then I gotta go (crowd cheers)(chuckles) I’ll see you later, see you…(horn players are singing “Here she comes walking”)…aah… here she comes now…so good…”
 * 23.04.88 Los Angeles, CA, intro to “All That Heaven Will Allow”**

“So how you doing out there tonight, huh? (crowd cheers) how are you guys, huh? (crowd cheers) that’s nice…there was this, uh… there was this fellow and this girl…they met in a little bar in…in a town along the coast…and uh…they started seeing each other…he was a, he was a house painter, I think…and uh…she was crazy about him, he was, I guess he was the kind of guy that, that’s sort of sweet-tempered and, uh, telling jokes all the time, really kind of, kind of gentle…and I remember saying, oh, she, he reminded her of Marlon Brando (chuckles) and uh…they fell in love and they moved into this little garage apartment a couple of blocks in off the beach in the wintertime…and things were nice, things were really nice… and then she got pregnant and uh…they made plans to be married and I guess maybe he was a little young or a little reckless still… and he got scared and, and he took off…but she never really let him go because he kept him…in her mind and in her heart…every day and every night, like, like some dream…like an old dream that the world could just take and break your heart with over and over again every single day…because there comes a time when you gotta take the past and you gotta put it away (crowd cheers) now, this is a song about a woman struggling to understand the value of her own individual existence (crowd cheers) and the value of the life of her child…struggling to put those old dreams down, to put the past away and to find something new and beautiful and meaningful in her life now (crowd cheers)…”
 * 23.04.88 Los Angeles, CA, intro to “Spare Parts”**

“We’re gonna…we’re gonna take a short break and then we’re gonna be back…to do some serious damage to you (crowd cheers) see you in a little while, alright? (crowd cheers)…”
 * 23.04.88 Los Angeles, CA, after “Born in the U.S.A”**

“Here’s a song dedicated…to that great American pastime…no, shopping (crowd cheers) yeah, I went down to that old Beverly Center the other day...wanted to buy me a little beatbox…walked in, started looking at them…a woman came up to me: “You wanna buy that thing?”…then she looked at me and she said “Ain’t you, uh, ain’t you, uh, ain’t you that rock’n’roll singer?” (crowd cheers) then she says “You wanna buy that thing?”…she says “You know, I like, uh, I like your videos, you know the, uh, but tell me, tell me, you know that one, that girl that you danced with, tell, uh (crowd cheers) did you pay her or was she really in the audience, you know?”…”You wanna buy that thing?” she says…I said “Lady, I wanna smash this fucking thing in a minute” (crowd cheers)…”
 * 23.04.88 Los Angeles, CA, intro to “You Can Look”**

“Let me regain my composure…is my hair alright? (crowd cheers)…”
 * 23.04.88 Los Angeles, CA, end of “You Can Look”**

“Is there anybody alive out there tonight? (crowd cheers) is there anybody that can feel the living, the breathing spirit in their souls out there tonight? (crowd cheers) that’s good…because what I want to know is…do we have any rough, tough…Los Angeles men out there tonight? (crowd cheers) do we have any of those, uh, California macho men out there tonight? (crowd cheers) because I’ve known men…that would swim rivers, that would climb mountains, they would wrestle with the beasts of the jungle…but there was one thing they was afraid of…and I’m gonna tell you what that one thing was…they was afraid of L-U-V, love, that’s what they were afraid of, love scared ‘em…whenever they got close to love, they started running away like little babies back to their mommies…now, do we have any brave, heroic L.A women out there tonight? (crowd cheers) do we have any macho, sexy California girls out there tonight? (crowd cheers) do we have ‘em back there? (distant cheers) because I’ve known women that would jump out of an airplane at 30,000 feet…but there was one thing that they was afraid of…and that thing was love…now I’m down here tonight because I’ve got a confession that I’ve got to make…I can’t carry this around with me any longer…and what I wanna say, what I want to tell you is that I have sinned! (crowd cheers) and I don’t need no Pat Robertson or Jim Baker or Jimmy Swaggert to forgive me…them boys can kiss my ass (crowd cheers) and that Jerry Falwell, he can kiss my ass three times (crowd cheers) right there… because what I’ve got to say is I ain’t afraid of man-made things… but what I’ve got to confess to is…that I’m a coward…when it comes to love…”
 * 23.04.88 Los Angeles, CA, intro to “I’m a Coward”**

“They had this TV-movie on about a month ago, it was with, uh…I think Jason Robards, Kirk Douglas…and they put this guy on trial… oh, let me tell you about it…”
 * 23.04.88 Los Angeles, CA, intro to “Part Man Part Monkey”**

“This is for our old fans out there tonight (crowd cheers)…”
 * 23.04.88 Los Angeles, CA, intro to “Backstreets”**

“Sometimes I feel…I feel so lonely…and I start living inside my head too much…I just wanna lay down and die…that’s when I know I need a little help…somebody to remind me I’m a member of the human race…that’s when I wanna say…hey, come on, baby…”
 * 23.04.88 Los Angeles, CA, towards the end of “Dancing in the Dark”**

“On the piano, Professor Roy Bittan (crowd cheers) on the guitar and vocals, Miss Patti Scialfa (crowd cheers) on the guitar, the great Nils Lofgren (crowd cheers) on the organ, Phantom Dan Federici (crowd cheers) on the bass guitar, Mr. Garry W. Tallent (crowd cheers) Eddie “Kingfish” Manion, Ritchie “La Bamba” Rosenberg, Mark “The Love Man,” Mike and Mario Cruz – the Horns of Love (crowd cheers) and last but not least…almost last but not least…on the drums, the Mighty Max Weinberg (crowd cheers) anybody else? oh! and last but not least…the handsomest man you ever seen, the greatest man in the history of western civilization: Clarence “Big Man” Clemons on the saxophone (crowd cheers)…”
 * 23.04.88 Los Angeles, CA, middle of “Light of Day”**

“Oh, thank you, thanks (crowd cheers) I wrote this next song, uh… about fifteen years ago (crowd cheers) and I guess I’ve been singing it at almost every show ever since (crowd cheers) I guess it was the first song I wrote where I felt I really sounded like…like myself…where I found my voice…and uh…let me see, I was fifteen… and I can remember at the time I was listening to, uh…Phil Spector-records and Duane Eddy and I was listening to Roy Orbison (crowd cheers) and I guess, I had this record called, it was on the Monument-label, it was called “Roy Orbison’s All-Time Greatest Hits” (crowd cheers) and uh…I guess this song kind of came out of the stuff I heard somewhere in-between “Only the Lonely” on the first side and “Pretty Woman” on the other (crowd cheers) so I got kind of an opportunity here that I ain’t gonna be able to pass up (crowd cheers) you see, today’s Roy Orbison’s birthday (crowd cheers) and…Roy Orbison is here tonight so (crowd cheers) so you’ve got kind of a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity (crowd cheers) to sing “Happy Birthday” to Roy Orbison (chuckles) here we go (chuckles)(sings “Happy Birthday” with the crowd)(crowd cheers) I wouldn’t have wrote this without you so…”
 * 23.04.88 Los Angeles, CA, intro to “Born to Run”**

“Alright, this is for all you adults out there…”
 * 23.04.88 Los Angeles, CA, intro to “Glory Days”**

“Oh yeah…it’s time to answer the questions of the evening (crowd cheers) and they are as follows…does the hero get the girl? (crowd cheers) does her mama come down and stop them? (crowd: “No”) does her daddy come down and wring his neck? (crowd: “No”) does he end up broke, busted and disgusted? (crowd: “No”) the answer to these mysteries and others will no be revealed…”
 * 23.04.88 Los Angeles, CA, intro to “Rosalita”**

“I didn’t come all the way from New Jersey to stop now (crowd cheers)…(intro music starts)…is there anybody in trouble out there tonight? (crowd cheers) is there anybody that needs a little affection and attention out there tonight? (crowd cheers) that’s good – come on, boys…because…I drove three thousand miles from New Jersey…we didn’t take no fancy rock star airplanes…we, we… alright, alright, we did take a fancy rock star airplane…but we thought about driving…because my motto is…I’m here tonight because, baby, my motto is “Have Love, Will Travel” (crowd cheers)…”
 * 23.04.88 Los Angeles, CA, intro to “Have Love, Will Travel”**

“Can you take it to the “Tenth”? (crowd cheers)…”
 * 23.04.88 Los Angeles, CA, intro to “Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out”**

“You think I’m getting tired about now, right? (crowd cheers) well …this is where I get my second wind (crowd cheers) I’ve got a question I wanna ask you…”
 * 23.04.88 Los Angeles, CA, intro to “Sweet Soul Music”**

“(crowd cheers) I’ve worked my ass off all night, you’re gonna have to shout louder than that, baby (crowd cheers) are you talking to me? (crowd cheers) are you talking to me? (crowd cheers) are you talking to me? (crowd cheers) then are you ready for a little religious liberation? (crowd cheers) are you ready for some spiritual inspiration? (crowd cheers) are you ready for some sexual consummation? (crowd cheers) then just raise your hand one time…”
 * 23.04.88 Los Angeles, CA, intro to “Raise Your Hand”**

“Thank you…we love you (crowd cheers) thank you…”
 * 23.04.88 Los Angeles, CA, after “Raise Your Hand”**

//Compiled by Johanna Pirttijärvi//